Space Environment Exploitation (SEE)
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is sponsoring a Proposers Day to provide information to potential proposers on the objectives of an anticipated Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the Space Environment Exploitation (SEE) program. The Proposers Day will be held on July 31, 2018 from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM at the Executive Conference Center (4075 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22203). The event will be webcast for those who would like to participate remotely. Advance registration is required both for attending the Proposers Day in person and for viewing the webcast. Note, all times listed are Eastern Time.
The goals of the Space Environment Exploitation (SEE) Proposers Day are to: (a) introduce the research community to the SEE program vision and goals; (b) explain the mechanics of a DARPA program and the milestones of this particular effort; and (c) encourage and promote teaming arrangements among potential organizations that have the relevant expertise, facilities, and capabilities for executing a research and development program responsive to the SEE program goals.Program Objective and Description
SEE seeks to accurately predict small-scale phenomena of the near earth coupled magnetosphere, ionosphere, thermosphere environment for space operational and tactical support. The desire is to resolve phenomena on scale lengths as small as 100km, at one-hour temporal resolution, for 72-hour forecast periods over a representative area of responsibility (AOR). A representative AOR, is for example, the arctic, which approximately spans 60o-90o latitude and small-scale phenomena can include, but are not limited to, sporadic-E, auroral-E, spread-F, F-region blobs, plasma bubbles, scintillation, etc. Successful execution will broadly enable these mission-focused areas: nowcast/forecast of the near-earth space environment, attribution of human-made vs. naturally occurring phenomena, and exploitation of the ionosphere.
DARPA anticipates that SEE will include two Technical Areas (TAs): TA1 will develop holistic space environmental models using theory beyond magnetohydrodynamics, leading edge computational standards (e.g. HPCs, GPUs, TPUs), and leading edge computational techniques (e.g. hybrid particle-in-a-cell, wave-in-a-cell, etc.) while TA2 will develop an extensible assimilation framework to unify current monitoring assets and develop/exploit non-traditional ways to measure/observe the near-earth space environment.
As integration of TA1 and TA2 is essential to the development of a useful capability, all proposers will be highly encouraged to address both TAs. Potential proposers with expertise in only one of these areas may find that partnering with others is necessary to address the full scope of the program.Q&A
Administrative, technical, and contractual questions about the SEE program should be emailed to SEE@darpa.mil. All questions must be in English and must include the name and email address of a point of contact. Following the Proposers Day, DARPA will post an FAQ list to the DARPA/DSO Opportunities website.Disclaimers and Important Notes
Attendance at the Space Environment Exploitation Proposers Day or viewing the webcast is voluntary and is not required to propose to the anticipated SEE BAA. Interested parties to this notice are cautioned that nothing herein obligates the Government to issue a solicitation. The Proposers Day does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts. This announcement is issued solely for information and program planning purposes and is not a Request for Information (RFI). Since this is not an RFI, no submissions against this notice will be accepted by the Government. No classified, ITAR controlled, or proprietary information shall be included in submitted materials or shall be presented or discussed at the Proposers Day. DARPA will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred to participate in this Proposers Day. Recording the Proposers Day is not permitted. |
